A Mutual Disliking
by Quicksilvermad
Summary: He scratched the back of his head and Andrea watched him process his thoughts for a moment. "You can shoot better'n *me* and she thinks you're workin' on a *tan.*"


**Warnings:** Spoilers for "18 Miles Out," the usual amount of swearing.  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> All rights for _The Walking Dead_ go to Robert Kirkman and AMC

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><p>Andrea calmly walked into the woods with her rifle slung over one shoulder and her machete clutched tightly in her right hand. She carefully followed the path Daryl set up a few days prior, paused by a fallen, rotted elm tree, and proceeded to hack the shit out of it.<p>

"God _damn_ it!" she snapped.

By the end of it, Andrea's arm was sore and she'd need to sharpen her blade again, but the dead tree had taken the brunt of her anger. She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and looked up at the tree canopy.

"What'd she do _now?_"

"Jesus fucking _Christ!_" Andrea jumped and almost threw her machete. Daryl, looking both parts amused and exasperated, just raised one eyebrow at her. "Do you ever make noise when you walk? You scared the shit out of me," she said and lowered her guard.

Daryl snorted. "Ease up, Ram-bette. 'Sides, you were makin' enough noise fer Helen Keller ta hear ya."

She winced. "Sorry. I was hoping to run across you anyway and see if you wouldn't mind some company on your hunt."

He shrugged and glanced at her rifle. "Couldn't hurt," he said. "Just don't try ta murder no more trees, okay?"

Andrea had a little laugh and shook her head. "I promise."

Daryl nodded his head toward the path and she followed, watching how he stepped and copying the movement as best she could. She managed to muffle her steps some, much to Daryl's surprise.

"So, what'd Queen Beryl ruin this time?" he asked after a while.

Andrea looked at the back of his head in surprise. "_Sailor Moon,_ Daryl? Really?"

He blushed. "Shut up and tell me why ya tried ta commit arborcide back there."

Smiling, Andrea matched his stride and leaned against his arm to keep balanced as she dodged an old fox hole. "I've had it with the happy housewife routine. She told me that all I'm doing when I'm on watch is work on my tan while she's trying to make it seem like life is 'normal' with all the cooking and laundry shit."

Daryl scoffed and took her elbow to carefully lead her around an old trap someone laid out for the fox. "Pretendin' things is normal's pro'ly one 'a the dumbest things that bitch does. Tryin' ta say her kid can't learn ta shoot 'cause he's eight. Hell, I learned way before then—and Carl's got just as much cause to learn that stuff _now_. Kid ain't stupid."

He frowned suddenly and paused, dragging Andrea to a stop with him. "Hang on, she's harpin' on ya fer doin' her idea 'a 'men's work' is that it?"

"Pretty much."

He scratched the back of his head and Andrea watched him process his thoughts for a moment. "You can shoot better'n _me _and she thinks you're workin' on a fuckin' _tan_."

"That, and I was being selfish for not helping out with the laundry."

Daryl squinted and looked Andrea dead in the eyes. "She said 'selfish.' You're 'selfish' fer protectin' yerself an' the camp. I'm 'selfish' fer feedin' her skinny ass fresh meat. Does this bitch think we're livin' in some kind 'a Disney movie? All the world's problems'll just go away if we ignore 'em, is that it? Christ, that woman needs a fuckin' reality check."

Andrea nodded in agreement and mirrored Daryl's open stance. "It kinda got worse from there…"

Daryl rolled his eyes and started walking again. "I believe it."

"Beth woke up and Lori and Maggie were trying to talk her out of killing herself. I left her alone for a bit and she tried to cut her wrists. She ended up scaring herself more than anything else, so she still wants to live. But Maggie and Lori have banned me from the house since I 'let' her do it."

"Hm. She'd 'a found a way if she really wanted to," Daryl said. Andrea nodded again and watched as he sat on his heels and pointed to a clear animal track. "Tell me what ya think made that."

Andrea joined him and squinted at it. "Deer?" she guessed.

"Huh-uh. Try again."

There were two marks behind the split hooves—she knew deer had cloven hooves, but what else roamed the woods and left tracks like that?

"Deer only leave marks like those if'n they're jumpin' around. These've been consistent. Those," he pointed at the two odd marks Andrea noticed, "are it's dewclaws. What's got dewclaws that it uses more often?"

"A boar."

Daryl smiled. "Right. Big'r little?"

Andrea checked the tracks and gauged their length and depth. "Medium-sized. So, kinda small for a boar, right?"

"Mm-hm."

She smiled as they stood together and started following the trail again. The sounds of the forest changed a bit as they drew nearer to their prey, and Daryl started using hand signals to communicate with Andrea. She could hear twigs break amidst loud snuffling and turned toward the noise when Daryl did.

The animal was a bit smaller than Andrea thought it would be, but it had plenty more meat on it than an average squirrel. She carefully removed the safety from her rifle and checked that she was ready to shoot. Daryl leaned in close with his arm pressed up against Andrea's shoulder, pointed behind the boar's ear, and then pointed at Andrea. He made another gesture towards the area just behind the animal's front leg and pointed at himself as he left her personal space.

Andrea nodded, let out a cleansing breath, and shouldered her rifle.

Beside her, Daryl took careful aim with his crossbow and fired.

The sound the boar made was horrible, but Andrea shot cleanly and finished it off. Her heart was beating rapidly and Daryl was already moving toward their kill with his knife out.

"Dig a hole. We gotta field dress 'er."

Dazedly, Andrea used her machete to loosen up the dirt and dig. She was absorbed in her task and held out her hands for the offal to be buried. Daryl was quick about it and handed her his old shop rag to clean up with when they finished.

As he fixed a rope around the boar's hooves to carry between them, Andrea shoved the rag in his back pocket, goosed his ass, picked up his crossbow, and looped the strap attached to it over his shoulder. He handed her one end of the rope and raised an eyebrow her handsy behavior.

Andrea just shrugged and took half the weight of the sow with a pleased grin. Their walk back was just as comfortable as ever and Andrea felt proud of herself and her companion. Sit around and work on her tan? Let the men do all the "men's" work? Please.

"Boar is going to be a nice change from squirrel," she said.

"Hell yeah."

"Have you ever barbecued one?"

Daryl's face lit up in a dazzling smile and he nodded. "'Course I have! What kind 'a redneck d'you take me for?"

Andrea laughed and shook her head. "Well, you're the least selfish one I know, that's for sure."

Daryl blushed and Andrea bit her lip when she saw just how red his ears got.

"I'm half tempted ta be selfish with this," he said quietly, hefting his end of the rope a bit.

"Yeah…" Andrea considered it back while they were tracking but decided she'd rather have proof of her and Daryl's worth to the group. Proof of their selflessness.

"The kid needs the meat, though," he mumbled. "Ain't right."

She nodded. "I agree."

They walked past the tree Andrea murdered and soon hit the tree line within view of Dale's binoculars. She waved toward the RV and Daryl hefted their kill to be seen from a distance.

"We should do this again. I mean, we make a pretty good team, don't we?" Andrea suggested.

Daryl watched her for a few long moments. "We do."

They smiled at each other and kept walking towards camp.


End file.
